(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wind power machine that generates power or perform work by using the force of the wind. More specifically, the present invention relates to a wind machine which consists of a fixed outer tower and a rotatable inner tower together with the associated flow guiding plates and fan blades through which the rotational efficiency of the wind machine can be improved.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Wind power machines, or windmills, were used in Holland to drain the polders after the dikes were built; the largest of their time, they became and remain a symbol of the Netherlands. In fact, those windmills are horizontal-axis machines, and they are not efficient when the wind changes direction. Moreover, the sizes of the fan blades are directly proportional to the efficiency of the wind machine, making the efficiency limited and the application to be restricted. Hence the vertical-axis wind machines are provided from which the multidirectional wind flow can be drawn into the machine to deliver a higher output. This type of wind machine is therefore widely used in power generation.
The Inventor, driven by the interest in the application of wind power, has spent a lot of effort in the research of wind power technology. U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,639 pertaining to a rotational power generating tower was granted to the Inventor. The structure of that invention is hereby shown in FIG. 1 for reference. After a continuous testing and improvement for a few years, an improved wind power machine is invented. The new invention mainly overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and improvement are made which are shown below:
(1) The conventional power generating tower has a heater 400 installed on its bottom and uses solar power as auxiliary power. Its surface to be heated must be large enough so as to increase area of heat absorption. This large-size tower is unfitted for a lot of applications. PA1 (2) The structure of the fan blade of the inner tower is too complicated and is too close to the port 402. Theoretically speaking, the warm air flow or wind induced from the heat absorbing plate 404 cannot enter the inside of the inner tower to generate the whirlwind. This is because of a centrifugal force generated from the rotation of the inner tower. This centrifugal force is in an opposite direction from the direction of the wind. No space is reserved for the wind to be drawn in for rotation. Therefore, this structure is not efficient. PA1 (3) The heat absorbing plate 404 in the conventional power generating tower is inclined at a fixed angle. It is not adjustable based on the direction or the speed of the wind. A high-velocity gust of wind such as the one in a typhoon season can possibly cause damage to the fan blades or the overall structure. PA1 (4) The fan blades 406 in the inner tower of the conventional power generating tower are complicated in structure and there are too many blades. The rotational efficiency is low due to the heavy weight and the cost is high too.
As mentioned in one of the paragraph above, the wind power machine according to the present invention is derived and improved from the passive wind power machine of the prior art. However, it can be deduced by the Inventor that the present invention can also be rotated by a dynamic power so as to generate the wind power.